


The Crush Reveal - HIATUS

by M1dn1ght_Star



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: F/M, Sokeefe - Freeform, kotlc - Freeform, minor nightfall spoilers!, sofitz - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 11:06:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16386689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M1dn1ght_Star/pseuds/M1dn1ght_Star
Summary: Sophie finally reveals her crush to Fitz, and things get way crazier from there...





	1. Chapter One

Sophie was practicing transmitting with Verdi one morning when Fitz leaped to Havenfield. He came up behind her and laughed as she made Verdi balance some wood on his nose.

"What are you doing to that poor creature?!" he said jokingly, flashing her a grin as he joined her by the fence.

She blushed as she looked at his handsome face. "Just practicing. Why?"

Fitz gave her a smile that made her insides fluttery. "I thought we should probably do some cognate exercises. We haven't done any for a while and then you can tell me whatever secret you've been so worried about sharing."

Sophie's heart kicked into overdrive and her stomach started to hurt. This would be humiliating, she was sure. Why, oh why had she told Fitz that she would do this.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Where do you want to do them?"

Fitz said almost shyly, "I was wondering if we could do it in your room. Would that be okay? My mom's been rearranging a ton of stuff at Everglen, so it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go there."

Sophie started blushing again at the thought of being alone in her room with Fitz. Well, not alone, alone. Sandor would probably be outside or nearby and Grady would almost certainly be eavesdropping from downstairs. "Sure. I guess that would be okay." she said, shrugging and trying to act nonchalant.

They said goodbye to Verdi and went inside to her room. Edaline winked at her from the kitchen and Grady narrowed his eyes when he saw Fitz. Fitz smiled sheepishly as he closed the door behind them.

Sophie sat on the bed and he sat down next to her, scooting so they were only a foot or two apart. She could feel his breath on her cheek.

"Are you ready?" Fitz said.

She nodded and opened her mind to his.

_Okay_ , he transmitted,  _Let's do a couple normal exercises first_.

_Me first_ , she transmitted back. She followed a warm, sunny trail through his mind until she found the words Albany, New York.

A scene played in her head. Fitz was walking through the streets and he discovered a shop selling ice cream. She smiled at the image of him eating a vanilla cone with some dripping down his chin.

"Yeah," Fitz said, "That's when I first discovered the wonders of ice cream. I sometimes got some when I was out looking for you, but I knew that my dad wouldn't approve, so I made sure never to tell anyone."

"That seems like a nice memory." Sophie said.

_My turn_ , he said, back to mental conversation.

She felt his mind drift down a cold, misty path that had the word curvebuster at the end of it. She knew what this memory was and didn't especially want Fitz to see it, but it was too late now.

She watched along with him as her younger self walked through the halls of the high school to her locker, only to find that it was covered in rude and mean messages from people like Garwin Chang, an annoying boy in most of her classes that called her Curvebuster. She had never really understood why people hated her so much until it was too late.

The memory ended and she saw Fitz's face very close to hers, teal eyes full of concern.

"Was it always like that for you?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged. "Yeah, but it wasn't that bad." She didn't really like to talk about her time in the human world anymore, as most of it was not good memories.

Sensing her reluctance to talk about it, Fitz said, "Now I think you should tell me whatever secret you've been hiding."

"Fine, but telepathically." she replied, opening her mind to his once more.

_Just tell me. It's not as bad as you think_ , he said.

Gathering her courage, she blurted out,  _I used to have a crush on you_.


	2. Chapter Two

Sophie stared at Fitz, not sure how he was going to react to what she had said. To her surprise, he didn't jerk back or freak out like she thought he would. Instead, he said softly, "Sophie, do you still have a crush on me?"

"Yes, I guess." she replied, not sure why he was asking. He didn't seem like the type of person who would try to embarrass her in front of others.

He leaned in closer and brushed some hair away from her face. "Sophie, I..."

The door banged open and Keefe burst into the room, "Hey guys, do you want to play basequest? Biana's in too."

Then he saw how close they were and probably how crazy Sophie's emotions were and scowled at Fitz. "Or are you guys too busy staring into each other's eyes?"

Sophie quickly jumped away from Fitz. "I think basequest sounds great!" she told Keefe,  then realized they were at Havenfield, not Everglen. "But wait, where are we going to play it?"

Keefe did a little wiggly dance. "I convinced Grady to let us do in the woods near Havenfield! Sandor insisted on being nearby, but what can a guy do?"

Sophie rolled her eyes at him but went past him and down the stairs. Grady and Edaline were still in the kitchen, but now Sandor had joined them. Both men were scowling at Keefe and Grady muttered something about "That Boy". Sandor gave a squeaky sigh and joined them as they went out the front door.

Fitz came up behind them and almost ran into Keefe.

"Dude, watch it!" Keefe said, patting his hair to make sure it was still artfully mussed. "You almost destroyed the Hair!"

"Sorry." Fitz said, already done with that conversation and looking around for Biana. She was waiting for them at the tree line and had changed from her earlier attire into a simpler blue dress.

Keefe slung his around Sophie's shoulders and said, "I call Foster for my team."

Biana pouted and Fitz wrinkled his nose, but Sophie said, "Fine, but only for the first round. And no special abilities."

"Whoo!" Keefe said, jumping in the air, "Team Foster-Keefe forever!"

Shrugging his arm off, Sophie ran through the trees to their base, a tall pure that cast shadow across the grass around it.

Keefe flopped down next to where she was sitting and Sandor took up his post behind the trunk of the pure.

"Aww, you're cramping my style." he complained as he gave a long-suffering sigh, "Chaperones are never fun."

Sandor frowned at him but didn't say anything.

"You're totally going to cheat and use your abilities, right?" Keefe said, looking at her hopefully.

"No!" Sophie said, shaking her head.

"I thought you were turning into a mini me, Foster. Come on, have some fun for once!" he whined, sitting up again and slinging his arm around her shoulders again.

"I said no." Sophie said, but she left his arm where it was. It kind of felt nice.

\-- Score one for Team Foster-Keefe! --


	3. Chapter Three

She stood up and Keefe followed. "We need to get going, otherwise we're going to lose!" she said.

"It would be worth it if I got to spend the time with you." he replied, eyes intense and no hint of a joke in his voice.

"Yeah, but I don't think it would be worth it for her." Fitz said, casually touching the trunk of their base.

"Ugh, you made me lose to my best friend, Foster." Keefe moaned, "That's losing you major awesomeness points right now." He walked over to Fitz and leaned dramatically on him. "I don't think I could stand it if you weren't awesome anymore."

Biana burst out laughing from where she stood next to Sandor. She had appeared there sometime during Fitz and Keefe's dialogue. Fitz glared at her.

"What?" she said, crossing her arms, "It's actually funny. Don't give me that look or you might end up with some interesting hair styles."

Sophie giggled, imagining Fitz with neon green hair sticking up all over the place.

Keefe made a picture frame with his fingers as if imagining Fitz with some wild hair style that only he could imagine. "That's one for the scrapbook, Fitzy!" he said, pulling away from Fitz and going to stand next to Sophie.

"Can we please go back inside, guys?" Sophie complained.

Everyone else agreed and they headed back through the woods. Sophie tripped over a fallen tree branch and Fitz caught her before she fell on her face. "Careful." he said, giving her a heart-melting smile.

"Ugh," Keefe said, wrinkling his nose, "Is anyone else about to gag over Sophitz?"

Biana raised her hand. "Me. Please save me. I really don't want to see my brother kissing my friend."

Sophie blushed bright red and Fitz turned the same color.

"Don't worry, I'll save you Foster!" Keefe exclaimed, picking her up and running down the trail with her and through the pastures of Havenfield.

Sophie shrieked with excitement as he made a daring jump. His hands were warm and gentle around her waist and she could see his huge smile, the twin to hers.

"What in the..." Grady said as he stepped outside to see what the heck was going on. Keefe was running around the pastures carrying Sophie and Sandor, Fitz, and Biana were trudging behind them as they came towards the house.They came to a stop in front of Grady and Sophie hit Keefe on the arm until he put her down.

"Thank you." she said, brushing the dirt off her dress.

Sandor stomped up to her and squeaked, "Never do that again! What if Keefe had tried to kidnap you and take you to the Neverseen!?"

Sophie looked at him in exasperation. "Keefe is not part of the Neverseen. He would never betray us and hates everything they stand for. Do you really need me to spell it out for you or are you good?"

Fitz pushed in between Keefe and Sophie and told her, "Can we finish that conversation we were having earlier now?"

Her heart immediately kicked into overdrive and Keefe scowled, so she knew he had felt her emotions go supersonic.

"Sure." she said, trying not to let everyone else know how nervous she was feeling. Fitz took her hand and led her through the house to her room. He closed the door behind them, locking it this time and turned to face her. She was standing by the wall and was pushed back against it when Fitz stepped closer.

"I think we make great friends, but we could be more than that." he said.

"What do you mean?" she said, heart racing as she tried to act casual.

"You know what I mean." he said, backing away from her and sitting on the window seat.

She stayed where she was, trying to calm down. But there was one question she just had to ask. "Fitz, do you like me?" she said.


	4. Chapter Four

  She waited, barely daring to breathe, already cursing herself for asking him. What on earth had possessed her to do that? She would probably just embarrass herself. 

Fitz smiled at her softly. "How did you know?"

She couldn't believe it. He actually liked her! "It was a guess, really."

He stood up and leaned against the wall. "Do you want to know how long?"

"How long what?"

"How long I've liked you."

Sophie took a deep breath. She'd never imagined that Fitz could have liked her back. She had imagined that it would be humiliating to reveal and then it would be over, and then she could figure out her complicated feelings for Keefe. Now, she had to figure out what to do about both Fitz and Keefe. 

"Yes." she said. "I do want to know."

He ran his fingers through his hair, looking a lot like Alden when he was nervous or worried. "I think I started liking you when you dropped Bronte in front of Kenric and Oralie. Maybe it was later, when you first played base quest. No matter when it was though, know that I still like you and maybe always will."  

  Sophie felt like she was melting. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.  

  "Fitz, you have no idea how much that means to me." 

"But I'd like to." he replied earnestly, leaning forwards. 

At that moment, Sandor came into the room looking for Sophie."There you are! Grady was wondering where you two had disappeared to."   


End file.
